Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Grapes of Super Bowl Wrath

While both football and wine have punts (the wine one is the dimple on your bottle's bottom), they might not seem to have a whole lot else in common. Wine just doesn't seem enough smashmouth for our national game of violence, let alone as burp-worthy as beer. That said, many former NFL players and coaches have gone the winemaker route once they retired. Mike Ditka had his Kick Ass Red (what else would he call it?), Dick Vermeil makes a Jean-Louis Vermeil Napa Cabernet that sells for over $250 a bottle (now that's one clever coach), and Terry Hoage followed up his 13-year career as a defensive back by starting a vineyard in Paso Robles (in 2008 he was named one of the Top New California Wine Producers by Wine Spectator).